A/N: Hey y'all,
I haven't posted (or written) anything in a while. But I still live. I just had terrible writer's block for a while so I took to drawing Ichihime instead (come find me on tumblr and say hi, will ya?) and now I'm busy writing my dissertation, so I spend enough time of my day staring at the screen and writing words.
But I do intend to get back to Stubborn love at some point, I still really like that story.
Now, as for the drabbles.
I posted this one before but then deleted it because I wanted to revise it a little bit. And now I did. (Just slightly, so if you read it the first time around, it might not seem that new to you.)
I've decided to not tell you the prompts before the story because in a lot of cases that's just a spoiler. But this one is for unemployedbee who had a couple of great ideas! Thank you for the prompt!
Enjoy, y'all!
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Arisawa Tatsuki – High school student, Karate champion, mastermind
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Tatsuki felt a smile tug at her lips as she watched her childhood friend and her best friend. She was following them through the busy school corridors, unhurriedly, to give them their space, as they all made their way up to the roof. The two made for a very sweet image. Orihime was walking backwards in front of Ichigo, animatedly telling him a story, one hand supporting her bubbly narrative with grand gestures while the other was safely joined with his. He was trailing after her, one eyebrow raised in amusement while his eyes stayed on their path behind her, gently steering her away from any obstacles by the hand that he was holding.
Resisting the urge to pat herself on the shoulder, Tatsuki recalled the masterplan – her masterplan – that had led to this development.
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'Ichigo!' The substitute turned in confusion to find his childhood friend charging at him at full speed, closely followed by a very nervous looking Orihime. 'Yo,' he said, frowning, as she came to a stop in front of him with a stern expression.
'Ichigo, it's time for you to step up! It's for Orihime's protection!'
Immediately, his blood pressure rose, and he looked around, scanning the area for possible threats to the person he'd sworn to protect. 'What is it?' He pressed as he failed to find any danger in the vicinity.
'It's those –,' Tatsuki fought for words. 'Those perverts!'
'Huh?' Ichigo's confusion was only enhanced by Inoue's panicked expression.
'Ichigo. Don't freak out. But I need you to pretend to be Orihime's boyfriend.'
His chin dropped while the words registered. Tatsuki was quick to continue.
'Hear me out! As you know, Orihime has plenty of… suitors, who basically never leave her alone. And while they are comparably tame as long as one of you guys is with her, they just become…' She was becoming visibly enraged now. '…like vultures when she's alone. And I can't take it anymore! So you will step up and you will pretend to be Orihime's boyfriend, because for some reason people are scared of your stupid face and if they think that she's yours, they will leave her alone and that it pisses me off to no end because the fact that they would leave her alone when there is another man involved but not when she just says no is EVERYTHING THAT IS WRONG WITH THIS STUPID CHAUVINISTIC SOCIETY,' she paused briefly in her rant and exhaled to calm herself.
'But I am willing to look past that when it serves Orihime's safety.'
How could he refuse? Easy, he couldn't. Because Tatsuki made a very compelling argument, and it was for Orihime's protection. And so he asked what that would entail.
'Oh nothing much. You know, just casual touches here and there, some handholding, hugging, you know. You're a guy. Just mark your territory or something. Like a freaking caveman.' Tatsuki muttered the last words angrily before halting herself..
All the while Orihime was blushing furiously at the prospect of being 'marked as Ichigo's territory'. But when said man turned to ask her if this was even okay with her, she nodded.
'Yes, I'm fine with the pretending as long as it's…' she trailed off, leaving the rest of the sentence unsaid, but it was clear to anyone in the room who wasn't a dense substitute soul reaper that she had wanted to say 'as long as it's with you'.
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Observing the fruit of her labor, Tatsuki smirked.
'What's got you looking so smug?' Ishida had caught up to her, looking at her with mild interest. With her grin widening, she motioned with her chin towards the happy 'couple'.
'Can you keep a secret?' Ishida nodded and she continued.
'They're just pretending.'
Leave it to Ishida Uryu to know exactly what she was talking about without being given any context. He directed his attention towards the two redheads, a small smile appearing on his lips as he took them in.
'Are they?' He asked with one eyebrow raised. This caused Tatsuki to grin again. 'Who knows?'
She looked back to her friends as they walked up the stairs to the roof. Ichigo had pulled Orihime in, one arm lazily resting on her shoulders while he leaned down and mumbled something in her ear that had her burst out laughing.
'Well one thing is for sure…' Tatsuki spoke up after a short moment of silence. They had reached the door to the roof now and she paused briefly as she watched the 'fake couple' settle down. Ichigo seemed to have no intent to move his arm away as they both came to sit, with her resting comfortably against him.
'They are fooling someone. I'm just not so sure it's us.'
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A/N: Oh man, they're just so cute. I have to admit that this would be great grounds for a longer story, but I think it has been done before. A lot. Still, I hope you enjoyed.
Thank you unemployedbee for the prompt 'Pretend boyfriend/girlfriend'!
And yes, Tastuki is a feminist. I think we all know that.
Thank you so much to all you loyal souls who keep reviewing these little stories of mine! You always make me smile with your comments and I really want you to know that your feedback, opinions and prompts are greatly appreciated! Thank you!
I am still open to one word prompts, even though I haven't been writing. If your prompt tickles me, my muse might return to just have me write something short in one sitting. I would enjoy that. So please do. 😊
